LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State College’s College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) has been renewed for five years with a grant from the United States Department of Education, college officials have announced.
The LC program was awarded a five-year grant worth $2,279,297 overall with the first year set at $439,487.
The program helps students from qualifying migrant/seasonal farm work backgrounds to enter and succeed in college. CAMP students receive support through tutoring, mentorship, internships, financial aid assistance, and career exploration. CAMP financial aid is only offered during the student’s first academic year of college, but other academic support areas are available until graduation.
CAMP students will have access to computers, peer mentoring, tutoring labs, skill workshops, connections to resident halls/residence life, and social activities. LC uses individual career plans, tutoring and retention plans to help students succeed.
“We are excited to continue promoting access to higher education through the unique programs and services associated with CAMP,” said Andy Hanson, LC State’s vice president for student affairs. “We have a strong track record with this program and look forward to including CAMP among the robust menu of student services at LC State for the next five years.”
To be eligible for CAMP at LC State, a student must be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States and be eligible to receive financial aid through FAFSA. The student also must be accepted or enrolled at LC State and have met one of the following requirements – (1) has an immediate family member who has been a migrant or seasonal farm worker for at least 75 days in the past two years; (2) has participated or is eligible to participate in a Chapter 1 Migrant Education Program; or (3) is qualified or is eligible to qualify for the Workforce Investment Act 167 Program.
LC State’s CAMP can help 30 eligible students each year. LC State also uses some of the funding to provide a bilingual recruiter who visits areas that have migrant and seasonal farm workers and identifies potential participants. The college sets a goal of having 86 percent of the participants complete their first year and 92 percent of that total return to the college for their second year.
Each CAMP participant has the opportunity to earn $3,500 in an educational stipend to assist with education expenses, and qualified students will be eligible to apply for the college’s Work Scholars Program or for institutional scholarships after their freshman year.
LC State began CAMP during 2002-08, and re-started it again in 2016.
For more information or to apply for the CAMP program at LC State, visit www.lcsc.edu/camp or contact Traci Birdsell, senior director of educational opportunity grant programs at LC State, at tbirdsel@lcsc.edu or 208-792-2848.